day 30. the swelling has long since gone down, but there is still some residual redness around the wound site. i've been advised to do no vigorous activities, for fear of stirring the infection up, and to wait until the redness recedes entirely. it's getting closer now, but i'm onto my 4th course of antibiotics.

all form i had on a bike has surely disappeared by now, ruining my road racing season, probably. my bikes are in excellent condition though - i've fixed heaps of stuff, with all the spare time i've got. fear i am going slowly insane, though.

matagi wrote:Jules, did your doc do any wound swabs for microbiology? 30 days to clear up an infection is an awfully long time. You don't have a pre-existing problem with circulation in your legs do you?

no, the docs just take a 5 second look and say "healing up well, have some flucloxacillin snacks." they did take a blood sample when i went to hospital, which came up clear. but that was from my arm.

i have had a blood clot in that leg - a few years ago. i have varicose veins, but i was assured the clot was due to my actions (long distance train trip was my guess).

it is clearing up though - there's only a reduced amount of pinkness around the wound site. if it wasn't receding, i'd be more worried.

matagi wrote:Jules, did your doc do any wound swabs for microbiology? 30 days to clear up an infection is an awfully long time. You don't have a pre-existing problem with circulation in your legs do you?

According to that authoritative source, Wikipedia, recovery from cellulites could take up to six months.

onto new anti-biotics (clindamycin), after docs concluded previous ones were not getting the job done. i went back into hospital where they x-rayed my ankle to check there were no broken bones, which may indicate infection of the bone (bad), but this was not the case.

my boss has a PhD in biochemistry and knows all about anti-bios. he reckons the last resort is a 'special' class of anti-bios that are reserved for stubborn cases (to reduce the risk of bacteria mutating into resistant strains as a result of over-use).

unlike one case my club vice-prez mentioned to me, i don't have gangrene (touch wood) and have thus far kept my leg attached to my torso.

jules21 wrote:still infected. doctor has written to hospital wound clinic, in the hope they have a solution.

this is getting old! i highly recommend not getting infected.

Did your doc take a swab of the wound when you first went to him? Problem with hitting the ground is that depending where it is, you can pick up some weirdo bugs which have quite specific antibiotic requirements (may even need a combination of antibiotics).

You poor thing! Pick this up late and all I can say is be patient. Joint infection with or without cellulitis is a serious problem. Inadequately treated or exacerbated in the first round will just leave potential nidus for future episodes. Stay off the bike, rest and take treatment until it's fully healed is my recommendation. Good luck!

Summernight wrote:You're about to become a labrat and poked and prodded and only let out when it is dark. It was nice knowing you.

are you joking or do you know how this works?

matagi - no swab i don't think. doc ordered a blood test last week (2nd one i've had for this, 1st was at hospital a few weeks ago) and that came up clear for diabetes, cholesterol, etc. i believe he expects wound clinic to do that stuff (swab)?

at the moment, i am on a combo of metronidazole tablets, flucloxacallin tablets and mupirocin ointment. what annoyed me was that these were working (slowly), then the doc sent me to hospital for a "second opinion", where they shifted me onto clindamycin - bang, it blew up straight after. so my doc put me back on the original ones, which seem to have slightly reduced swelling over last week or 2.

sogood - they did an x-ray. while the infection is on the ankle, it's on the surface - i assume that means it's not in the joint? (certainly they said it's not a bone infection).

Summernight wrote:You're about to become a labrat and poked and prodded and only let out when it is dark. It was nice knowing you.

are you joking or do you know how this works?

I've watched enough virus/bacteria/alien/zombie movies and TV shows to be an expert. They are all fact, right? If you start wanting brains could you just go and eat somewhere else as this is my brain-eating territory.

But seriously, I hope the super bug gets squashed with your array of super-antibiotics once they put you on the correct ones.

it actually looks like it's shrivelling up a bit, but it's still there.

my wife spoke to the head of trauma at a major hospital on the weekend, who she says was a bit shocked at the length of time they've let this run. i'm supposed to have been referred to the wound clinic of a hospital, but haven't heard from them yet.

What's the actual wound that is not healing? The reason I ask is because my flatmate and myself have both had small wounds that refused to heal and honey worked on them. Manuka honey is supposed to be the best but I just used whatever was in the cupboard. There's been some research done which indicates manuka honey can be useful for some infections. Here's a link if you are interested:

I have heard that about Manuka honey too- nice to see a reference. I tried it on a tick bite on back of neck a few years ago, that turned into swelling which affected breathing (only slightly but not a good feeling). Bit messy but it got better (helped by antibiotics also..)

jules21 wrote:it actually looks like it's shrivelling up a bit, but it's still there.

my wife spoke to the head of trauma at a major hospital on the weekend, who she says was a bit shocked at the length of time they've let this run. i'm supposed to have been referred to the wound clinic of a hospital, but haven't heard from them yet.

maybe i should go the private route?

This is perhaps uncertain without seeing it but i would put more pressure on your public hospital "wound clinic"

Back in the good old days (the 1990's) your GP would have been able to ring up the "wound clinic" and get an appointment for you.

These days state governments ration medical services to those in the most urgent need or those who are most persistant or connected.Canberra won't give them enough medicare money to run public hospitals properly. Or so it seems. Sometimes (at least here in Qld) you've just gotta go and sit in Emergency and refuse to go until you have an appointment.Depends a bit on the hospital - not all will have a wound clinic.Sometimes a letter from your GP helps.

kenji44 wrote:I have heard that about Manuka honey too- nice to see a reference. I tried it on a tick bite on back of neck a few years ago, that turned into swelling which affected breathing (only slightly but not a good feeling). Bit messy but it got better (helped by antibiotics also..)

kenji44 wrote:I have heard that about Manuka honey too- nice to see a reference. I tried it on a tick bite on back of neck a few years ago, that turned into swelling which affected breathing (only slightly but not a good feeling). Bit messy but it got better (helped by antibiotics also..)

Leeches are also being used again....

I'd use them. If they offered me leeches or surgery for an infection, I would give the leeches a go before I let them cut me. It's worth a shot isn't it?

this is driving me nuts. my doc referred me to the hospital wound clinic, who he said was better equipped to do intrusive procedures - he talked about "digging foreign matter out". so i spoke to said clinic, which brushed me off, saying there was a month's wait and they treated wounds, not infections (even though it is a wound which is infected).

basically, nobody in the medical profession loves me. i think i try a new doctor.

jules21 wrote:this is driving me nuts. my doc referred me to the hospital wound clinic, who he said was better equipped to do intrusive procedures - he talked about "digging foreign matter out". so i spoke to said clinic, which brushed me off, saying there was a month's wait and they treated wounds, not infections (even though it is a wound which is infected).

basically, nobody in the medical profession loves me. i think i try a new doctor.

OMG! This has been going on since April, which is just ridiculous. Did this doctor not look at your wound closely? The first thing he should have done is swab it and then check it for embedded material and give it a thorough clean (and that does not involve attacking it with a scrubbing brush, contrary to popular belief). Go and see another doctor. Sounds like you might be heading for a surgical consult for debridement. Let's hope not.

It is correct that the wound clinic only treat wounds ie.apply dressings and keep an eye on them. At the first sign of infection, the victim gets punted - usually back to their surgeon.

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